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Re: Post-hoc working group chartering

2015-07-22 03:51:34
Hi,

On 2015-7-22, at 09:50, Eliot Lear 
<lear(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com<mailto:lear(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com>> wrote:
I might add that Lars handles this rather differently for the IRTF.  He advises 
prospective RGs to simply start acting like RGs, and so long as there is 
activity that is within the IRTF's remit, things can progress from there.

yep, this is a good summary for what we currently do over on the IRTF side of 
things. I cooked up the IRTF process, because I wanted to make it easy for 
anyone to start new work and bring in new ideas, and at the same time make it 
easy for myself to end efforts that hadn't come together or had fizzled out.

When someone comes with an idea for a new RG, I ask them to write a page of 
descriptive text that looks much more like a call for participation for a 
conference than an IETF charter. If it fits underneath the IRTF's charter and 
goals, I explain to the proponents that they should go and reach out to the 
folks they need to have in the group to make it successful, start having 
meetings in the way they want to have them (during the IETF week, or at 
research conferences, interims, etc.), and do work in the way they want to work.

About a year later, I sit down with the folks and we review what trajectory the 
group has been on. It's usually very clear to all involved at that point 
whether something worthwhile has formed or not. That conversation is 
dramatically different (in a good way) than the conversation an AD has to have 
with proponents after a BOF.

Lars